Gabelli School undergrad keeps Fordham Dance Marathon moving

Undergraduate | Apr 12, 2017 | Jacqueline Herlan

What goes into raising $91,869.75 for a nonprofit? Ask Haley Hauge, BS ’18.

Hauge is executive director for the Fordham Dance Marathon, which is run through the university’s residence hall association. The 12-hour dance marathon supports the Andrew McDonough B+ Foundation, an organization that seeks to end pediatric cancer through research, advocacy, and direct family assistance. 

Hauge and her collaborators spent the past year putting the event together. She ascribes her success to the Gabelli School’s sophomore-year Integrated Project, or “IP,” which challenges students to identify a real company’s most pressing business problem and pitch a creative solution. The project course culminates in a presentation contest called the Consulting Cup.

“There is no question that the Consulting Cup and sophomore IP core curriculum helped strengthen my leadership and planning skills,” Hauge said. She also expressed gratitude for lessons learned from two of the Gabelli School’s undergraduate administrators, Greer Jason-DiBartolo and Marisa Totino.

Having surpassed its original goal of raising $70,000, the dance marathon illustrates that practicing business skills, bringing the wider University community together, and raising money for a good cause all at the same time is a good reason to keep dancing.